The Church as Mystery

1356. In the Christian Faith there are mysteries or divine truths proposed to our belief “that are hidden in God and
which can never be known unless they are revealed by God himself” (DS, 3015) and which we will never be able
to understand fully because of the limitation of our intelligence (cf. DS 3016). Such is the case of the mystery of
the Blessed Trinity. There are also created salvific realities which can partly be known by our human intelligence,
but which have also a transcendent dimension which can be perceived only through faith. These salvific realities
are also called “mysteries” because of their inexhaustible richness. It is in this sense that we speak of the Church
as “mystery.” By this term, then, we mean not something we cannot know nor understand, but rather a reality we
can never fully grasp because there is always more to learn (cf. NCDP 200). As mystery, the Church is a God-
given reality we believe in and love __ like a friend or a loved one __ not only something we observe and critically
analyze (cf. NCDP 230; CCC 770-73).

To affirm the Church is a mystery simply means, first, that it is “a reality imbued with the hidden presence of God . . . always
open to new and greater exploration” (Paul VI at the Opening of the Second Session of Vatican II). Second, it has a unique
relation to God Himself, and therefore also with all of us who are called to salvation precisely as a people. But what precisely
is this “unique relationship with God?”

1357. The Church is related to each Person of the Blessed Trinity. First, to the eternal Father who “resolved to
assemble all those who believe in Christ in the holy Church.” In the Father’s plan, the Church was:

• prefigured from the beginning of the world;

• prepared wonderfully in the history of Israel,
• instituted finally in these last times,
• manifested in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit,
• to be brought to completion at the end of time (cf. LG 2; CCC 760-69).

The Church as Mystery

1357. The Church is related to each Person of the Blessed Trinity.

1358. Second, to the Incarnate Son, Jesus Christ. “Christ, the one Mediator, established and ceaselessly
sustains here on earth his holy Church” (LG 8; cf. CCC 763-66). The Church originated and grew from Christ.
“From the side of Christ as He slept the sleep of death upon the Cross came forth the wondrous sacrament of the
whole Church” (SC 5). Our life in the Church is completely Christ-centered: “All men are called to this union with
Christ who is the light of the world, from whom we go forth, through whom we live, and toward whom our whole life
leads us” (LG 3).

1359. Like the Incarnate Son, the Church is both visible and invisible, human and divine. As the Son of God “became flesh” to
save us from our sins, so the spiritual community of the Church takes on visible social structure to serve its mission (cf. LG 8;
CCC 771-73).

1360. Third, to the Holy Spirit who dwells in the Church and in the hearts of the faithful as in a temple (cf. 1 Cor 3:16), and
bears witness to their adoptive sonship (cf. Gal 4:6). The Spirit guides the Church into the fullness of truth (cf. Jn 16:13), gives
her a unity of fellowship and service, and constantly renews and leads her to perfect union with her Spouse, Christ (cf. CCC
767).

1361. Hence, the Church is mystery by reason of:

• its origin in the Father’s plan of salvation,

• its ongoing life in the Risen Christ and the Spirit, and
• its ultimate goal in the fully achieved Kingdom of God.

1362. But “most Filipino Catholics approach the Church concretely and pragmatically, not in terms of ‘mystery.’ Yet
there is deep respect, loyalty, and love for the Church which this insight into the Church as mystery can develop
and confirm” (NCDP 231), for the Church is basically a mystery of communion.

Perhaps a more Filipino approach to the Church as “mystery” would focus on this personal communion that binds us together
with the Lord and with one another. It is this living and life-giving communion that makes us belong not to ourselves but to
Christ and to his Church, the community of the disciples of Christ (cf. PCP II 87, 402). “I am the vine, you are the branches,”
Christ told his disciples (cf. Jn 15:5). This “strong sense of personal belonging, of self-identity and security which Filipino ‘folk
Catholicism’ has been able to consistently engender, is perhaps its greatest asset” (NCDP 86).

1363. Moreover, this communion is the ‘integrating aspect,’ indeed the central content of the Church as mystery (cf. CL 19).
But it is not a communion created by merely sociological and cultural factors. Rather, the model and source of our communion
as Christians with Jesus and with one another is God’s own Trinitarian communion __ of the Son with the Father in the gift of
the Holy Spirit. Only such a source could explain how “united to the Son in the Spirit’s bond of love, we Christians are united
to the Father” (CL 18).

1364. Icon* of the Trinity. Basically, the Church is mystery because of its relationship to Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit. It manifests the Blessed Trinity by both its nature and mission.

First, by its origin the Church arose from the saving design of the Father, the redemptive mission of the Son
and the sanctifying work of the Spirit.

Second, in structure: just as the Trinity is a community, the communion of love of Father, Son and Holy
Spirit, so too the Church is a community, a communion of believers drawn together by Christ in the power of the
Holy Spirit.

Third, the mission of the Church originates “from the mission of the Son and the mission of the Holy Spirit, in
accordance with the decree of God the Father” (PCP II 103; cf. AG 2).

Fourth, the destiny of the Church is the full realization of this communion in the Kingdom of God. We are
pilgrims, because “joined with Christ in the Church and signed with the Holy Spirit ‘who is the pledge of our
inheritance’, we have not yet appeared with Christ in the state of glory in which we shall be like God since we shall
see Him as He is” (LG 48).

1365. This Trinitarian view of the Church is actually quite close to the ordinary religious experience of Catholic Filipinos. For it
is in the Church, especially in communal worship at Mass, when we most often:

• experience God as “our Father” and feel ourselves as children in His divine hands;
• come to know Christ as our personal Savior, and what it means to be His disciples in service of others; and
• judge true, authentic experiences of the Holy Spirit, among our fellow disciples of Christ, and under the guidance
and leadership of Church authorities.

PCP II expressed this briefly in noting that “in the Liturgy we assemble and pray in the name of our Lord through whom
‘we have access in one Spirit to the Father’ ” (Eph 2:18; PCP II 77).

The Church as Sacrament

1366. The Church as mystery is further clarified and developed by the notion of sacrament. “By her relationship with Christ,
the Church is both a sacramental sign and an instrument of intimate union with God, and of the unity of all mankind” (GS 42;
cf. LG 1). Christ then has made the Church the effective sign and symbol of:

1) our union with God;

2) the unity among men; and
3) of salvation.

For the Risen Christ, continually active in the world, “sent his life-giving Spirit to establish his Body, the Church as the
universal sacrament of salvation” (LG 48; cf. CCC 774-76).

1367. The idea that the Church is “sacrament” may sound strange at first to many Filipinos. We have been used to thinking of
“sacrament” solely as the “seven sacraments,” individual liturgical rituals such as Baptism, the Mass, Confession, etc. But if
we focus on the essentials of “sacrament,” we find both Christ himself as well as the Church fulfill the notion perfectly. A
sacrament is a material sign which gives grace, effecting what it symbolizes; it causes grace by symbolizing grace.

So Christ, the eternal Word made flesh, is the visible sign, the sacrament of God. So too the Church, with her visible,
institutional structure, is for us the sacrament of Christ, representing him, making him present. The Church signifies in a
visible, historical, and tangible form the presence and redeeming activity of Christ, offered to all persons of every age, race
and condition.

1368. Thinking of the Church as “sacrament” has many advantages.

First, it unites inseparably the visible and invisible dimensions of the Church. “Sacrament” by definition is a visible sign
making present an invisible reality. So the Church is a visible, hierarchically structured society making present a spiritual
community. The two aspects form but one complex reality which comprises both a human and a divine element.

1369. Second, “sacrament” directly relates the Church to non-Catholics. Without neglecting the necessity of the visible
Church, it helps explain how the grace of Christ can be operative beyond the limits of the institutional Church. The Church as
sacrament is “used by Christ as an instrument for the redemption of all, and sent forth into the whole world as the light of the
world and the salt of the earth” (LG 9).
The Church, then, is the tangible sign of Christ’s presence in the world, a beacon of light visible to all and drawing them in the
power of the Spirit to communion with God and with one another in Christ (cf. Acts 13:47; Mt 5:14-16).

1370. Third, it unites the Church closely with the Eucharist. The many similarities are striking:

• As the Eucharist is composed of bread and wine “which earth has given and human hands have made,” so the Church
is composed of men and women called together.
• As the Eucharist makes sacramentally present the body and blood of the Risen Christ, so the Church is the visible sign
of the presence of the Risen Christ in His Spirit.
• As the Eucharist’s bread and wine have no meaning outside of Christ’s words, so the Church cannot be understood
except through Christ’s promise “I am with you always until the end of the world” (Mt 28:20).
• And as Christ’s presence in the Eucharistic bread and wine is not effected by any human holiness or fidelity, but by the
Risen Christ’s own saving activity in the Spirit, so too is his inseparable union with the Church effected.

1371. “Sacrament” can also foster a strong loyalty and personal sense of belonging to the Church, even while recognizing our
human limitations. This implies our constant need for renewal and purification. We come to love the Church as our spiritual
mother and home.

Yet we know that we are a pilgrim people, already on our journey but not yet arrived. Therefore, we can appreciate the
counsel that “guided by the Holy Spirit, the Church ceaselessly ‘exhorts her sons and daughters to purification and renewal so
that the sign of Christ may shine more brightly over the face of the Church’ ” (GS 43; LG 8; PCP II, 141).

1372. PCP II openly averred that the Church in the Philippines is not, and will never be on this earth, the perfect bride of
Christ. Ours is an imperfect Church living amidst and ministering to a very imperfect society. Both in her internal renewal,
therefore, and in her service to society, the Church as the community of the Lord’s disciples is destined to share in His
passion and death so that she may also share in his risen life (PCP II 142, 246-49).

Scriptural Images of the Church

1373. If by its very nature the Church is mystery and sacrament, we come to better understand it more through prayerful
reflection on key biblical images than by some abstract definition (cf. CCC 753-57). The New Testament, drawing on major
Old Testament themes, contains more than 80 comparisons depicting the Church as a “communion of life, love and truth”
established by Christ between God and His human children (cf. LG 9). Vatican II gathers them into four groups. The Church
is:

• the Flock of Christ, the Good Shepherd, who lays down his life for his sheep;
• the Vineyard of God, cultivated by the heavenly Vinedresser. Christ is the true vine who gives life and fruitfulness to us,
the branches;
• the Temple of God, with Christ as the cornerstone and the apostles as foundation; and
• our Mother, the spotless Spouse of the spotless Lamb, “whom Christ loved and for whom he gave himself up that he
might sanctify her” (LG 6).

1374. But since these are images drawn from the specific, concrete culture and times of the biblical people, they have to be
carefully explained if they are to enlighten the Filipino Catholic of today on the nature of the Church. Most Filipinos have little
or no contact with shepherds, flocks, vinedressers, and the like. These images, therefore, must be brought to life by showing
how they manifest basic human values and religious meaning that are relevant to our own Filipino culture and spirituality.

1375. PCP II offers one example of adapting a biblical image of the Church to Filipino culture. Many biblical images revolve
about the basic theme of the “household or family of God.” PCP II developed the image of the Church as “a community of
families.” The family is “the Church in the home.” Jesus began his earthly mission within a family; the family is where faith-life
begins, is nurtured, grows to maturity. It is where Christian conscience is formed, and Christian prayer and worship is nurtured
and integrated. In fact the family is “a true foundation for Basic Ecclesial Communities . . . a model of relationships in the
Church. For the plan of God is that all should form one family, and the Church is the household of God where all call upon and
obey the will of the same Father through the Holy Spirit” (PCP II 21-22).

1376. Against the above background of these general Biblical images of the Church, and one PCP II adaptation, we shall
take up four particular biblical images which are especially helpful for grasping the reality of the Catholic Church today: the
“Kingdom of God,” the “People of God,” the “Body of Christ,” and “Temple of the Holy Spirit.”

1. Kingdom of God

1377. This is the major theme of Christ’s own teaching in the Synoptic Gospels. But what exactly is this “kingdom”? PCP II
sketches it in biblical images: the Kingdom of God is the Good News preached to the poor, the gift of God, our “Abba,”
(Father) who is sensitive to the needs and sufferings of every human being. It is the seed quietly sown, the offer of pardon to
sinners, the banquet of table-fellowship and joyful communion with the Lord and our fellow men and women, the gift of
salvation, eternal life. But it is a gift we must seek, demanding vigilance and active use of talents — a task and project as well
as a gift (PCP II 39-47).

1378. Christ “inaugurated his Church by preaching the coming of God’s Kingdom” (cf. LG 5). His parables about the Kingdom
of God employed many specific images:
• a treasure hidden in a field,
• the leaven raising the dough,
• the tiny mustard seed growing into a tall tree,
• a fish net catching the good and the bad.

These can help us see how the Church, on the one hand, is not simply identified with the Kingdom of God. On the other hand,
the Church does serve the Kingdom as the leaven in the dough of humanity, in sowing the seed and casting of the net (cf.
NCDP 230). As such, the Church includes both the good and the bad fish, the wheat and the weeds. In brief, the Church
represents the coming of the Kingdom, the Kingdom in process.

1379. The petition “Your Kingdom come” in the Lord’s Prayer clearly indicates that God’s Kingdom is something already here,
but not yet in its fulfillment in glory. Like the Kingdom, the pilgrim Church stands between the already and the not yet,
constantly striving to prepare the way for, and witness to, the kingdom in glory, “the city of the living God, the heavenly
Jerusalem, . . . the assembly of the firstborn . . . in heaven” (Heb 12:22f).

2. People of God

1380. Vatican II’s favorite image of the Church is “the new People of God.” “God has willed to make men holy and save them,
not merely as individuals without any mutual bonds, but by making them into a single people, a people which acknowledges
Him in truth and serves Him in holiness” (LG 9). Prefigured in the Old Covenant which Yahweh set up with the people of
Israel, “Christ instituted the New Covenant in his blood, by calling together a people, making them one, not according to the
flesh but in the Spirit” (LG 9).

1381. The Church as the “People of God” has clear distinguishing characteristics:

• its cause is GOD: “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people God claims for his own” (1 Pt
2:9f);
• its Head is Christ “who was handed over to death for our sins and raised up for our justification” (Rom 4:25);
• its members are “those who believe in Christ, who are reborn through the Word of the living God, ‘of water and the
Spirit’ in baptism” (cf. Jn 3:3,5);
• its condition is that of the dignity and freedom of the sons/daughters of God, in whose hearts the Holy Spirit dwells as in
a temple;
• its law is Christ’s new Commandment of love (cf. Jn 13:34), and the new Law of the Spirit (cf. Rom 8:2);
• its mission is to be the salt of the earth, the light of the world, its salvation (cf. Mt 5:134-16);
• its destiny is the final Kingdom of God, brought to perfection at the end of time (cf. LG 9; CCC 782).

1382. This new People of God is a “Priestly, Prophetic and Kingly People” ( cf. PCP II 116-21; CCC 783-86, 901-13; LG 10-
12; RH 18-21). As a priestly people by reason of our Baptism, strengthened by Confirmation and nourished by the Eucharist,
we Christians offer spiritual worship for the glory of God and the salvation of men (cf. LG 34).

As a prophetic people, we give witness to Christ by our understanding of the faith (sensus fidei) and the grace of speech (cf.
Acts 2:17f), “so that the power of the Gospel may shine out in daily family and social life” (LG 35).

As a kingly people we share in the power of Christ the King who came “to serve and give his life as a ransom for the many”
(Mt 20:28). Thus we serve others, especially the poor and the suffering in whom we recognize “the likeness of our poor and
suffering Founder” (LG 8). By sharing in the Spirit’s power “to renew the face of the earth”, we work to overcome sin and to
permeate all with the values of Christ. “To be king is to minister, to serve” (PCP II 121).

1383. Filipino culture, with its more authority-structured relationships, may seem at first to run counter to this image of the
Church which stresses the dignity of all members of “the new People of God.” But the political and social revolution of EDSA,
1986, the spontaneous response of help toward the victims of the natural calamities, and the Church celebration of its Second
Plenary Council (PCP II) in 1990, witness to the growing sense of solidarity among Filipinos, of being “one people.” This
deepening sense of national unity and national identity will help Filipino Catholics to realize and assume their full stature,
dignity and responsibility as members in the Christian community, the “family of God.”

3. Body of Christ

1384. In the Gospels Jesus called men and women to follow him, to be his disciples and to share his life and mission. He
identified them with himself: “He who hears you, hears me. He who rejects you, rejects me” (Lk 10:16). This holds true with
even the least of his brethren: “I assure you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Mt
25:40). Jesus spoke of an intimate communion with his followers: “Live on in me, as I do in you . . . I am the vine, you are the
branches” (Jn 15:4-5). He even provided the means of such communion: “The man who feeds on my flesh and drinks my
blood, remains in me and I in him” (Jn 6:56). At the Last Supper, Jesus promised not to leave his disciples orphans (cf. Jn
14:18), but to send them his Spirit through whom he would be with them till the end of time. The Church is born of this
personal communion between Jesus and his disciples (cf. CCC 787-95).

1385. “By communicating his Spirit to his brothers and sisters, called together from all peoples, Christ made them mystically
into his own body” (LG 7). Thus the Church is not just like a body, but IS the Body of Christ, really made one in him, in his
“mystical” Body. “Mystical” does not mean “unreal” but rather a reality not limited to sensible appearances. Therefore it is
accessible to faith alone because it belongs to the mystery of God’s salvific plan hidden for endless ages but revealed in the
Gospel.
1386. Christ’s “body,” then, can refer to:
• the physical body of the historical Jesus, assumed at the Incarnation (cf. Jn 1:14); or
• his Eucharistic body, making sacramentally present to us the Person of the Risen Christ in his saving sacrifice; or
• his mystical body, the Church, the faithful united to Christ as their Head, and united and vivified by His Spirit.

1387. Unity in Diversity. Within Christ’s Body, the Church, there is a great variety of members and functions (PCP II 91-94).
This means that the unity of the Body of Christ is not uniformity. Rather, “there are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same
Spirit; there are different ministries, but the same Lord; there are different works but the same God who accomplishes all of
them in everyone” (1 Cor 12:4-6). It is the Holy Spirit whom Christ shares with us as the principle of life, the soul of his Body,
who, existing as one and the same in head and members, gives life to, unifies and moves the whole body” (LG 7). Thus we
pray:

Father, you gather your children into your Church,

to be ONE as you, Father, are one with your Son
and the Holy Spirit.
You call them to be your PEOPLE,
to praise your wisdom in all your works,
You make them the BODY OF CHRIST,
and the dwelling place of the HOLY SPIRIT. ( 8 th Preface fro Sundays)

4. Temple of the Holy Spirit

1388. St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians: “You are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you” (1 Cor 3:16; cf. CCC
797f). Animating the Church as the “Body of Christ” is the Holy Spirit. Traditional teaching of the Church declares: “As Christ is
the Head of the Church, so is the Holy Spirit its soul” (ND 852). Vatican II describes it thus:

Christ has shared with us his Spirit who, being one and the same in head and members, gives life to, unifies and moves the
whole body. Consequently, the Spirit’s work could be compared to the function which the soul, the principle of life, fulfills in the
human body (LG 7).

1389. The Filipino value of close family unity and ties should help Catholic Filipinos to appreciate the Church as the Body of
Christ. “Body of Christ” actually stresses first, the living unity of all the faithful among themselves through their union with
Christ. Second, under Christ the Head, the organic relationships between the members through the grace and charisms of the
Spirit. Third, the Church as Spouse of Christ (cf. Eph 5:27,29; CCC 789-96).

All three aspects are actualized through Baptism and the Eucharist. “The body is one and has many members, but all the
members, many though they are, are one body; and so it is with Christ. It was in one Spirit that all of us . . . were baptized into
one body” (1 Cor 12:12-13). Moreover, “by really sharing in the body of the Lord in the breaking of the Eucharistic bread, we
are taken up into communion with him and with one another” (LG 7; cf. PCP II 89-90).
. What is the Catholic Church?
The Catholic Church is the community of men and women, united in Christ and
guided by the Holy Spirit, under the leadership of the successor of Peter and the
Bishops in communion with him.
As such, “they press onward towards the Kingdom of the Father as bearers of the
message of salvation intended for all” (GS 1).

1445. How should we understand the Church?

The Church is not merely a human social organization, but “the People of God called
together.” It consists of all who are drawn to personal communion with Christ and
with one another, and as “united to the Son, in the Spirit’s bond of love, [are thus]
united to the Father” (CL 18).
The Church, then, is “mystery” __ a God-centered reality in its origin, ongoing life
and final goal.

1446. How is the Church related to the Trinity?

The Church:
• originates according to the Father’s eternal plan, from the side of the Crucified
Christ, and is animated and united by the coming of the Holy Spirit;
• structured as a community of love modelled on the Trinity’s loving union of
Father, Son and Spirit;
• missioned (sent) by the Father following the joint Mission of Son and Spirit;
• destined as a pilgrim people to journey toward perfect communion with the
Trinity in heaven.

1447. Do Catholics as Church members experience the Trinity?

In practice, Filipino Catholics experience the Trinity in their parish community.
Without consciously attending to it, they actually:
• come to worship God as their Father,
• through their union with Jesus Christ, their Savior,
• guided by the grace of the Holy Spirit, and
• under the leadership of their parish priests and the Bishops, successors of the
apostles.

1448. Why is the Church today called “sacrament”?

The Church, like Christ himself, is rightly called “sacrament” because it is a visible sign
which makes present a spiritual grace-filled reality.
Specifically, the Church is the efficacious symbol that unites us to God and to one
another, and thus is the efficacious symbol of our salvation.

1449. What advantages does thinking of the Church as “sacrament” offer?

Thinking of the Church as fundamental sacrament helps us

• unite the visible (institutional) and invisible (mystery) aspects of the Church;
• relate the Church to non-Catholics for whom it is called to be the “light” of the
world and “salt” of the earth;
• link the Church with the Eucharist in its union with Christ; and
• love the Church, as our home.

1450. How does Scripture picture the Church?

Among the many Scriptural images of the Church, three stand out: “Kingdom of
God,” “People of God,” and “Body of Christ.”

1451. What is meant by the Church as “Kingdom of God”?

The Church is the “Kingdom of God in process,” that is:

• the Good News preached to the poor,
• the seed quietly sown, and
• the leaven in the dough, gradually raising all in the pilgrimage to the Kingdom of
the Father, through Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit.

1452. How is the Church the new “People of God”?

God saves us not merely as individuals, but by calling us into a single people, united
in faith, whose:
• Head is Christ the Lord;
• unifying soul is the indwelling Spirit;
• members are those who believe in Christ and are reborn through water and the
Spirit in Baptism;
• structure is the Christ-instituted hierarchy of apostles and their successors, the
Bishops, with the Roman Pontiff as head;
• law is Christ’s new commandment of Love;
• mission is loving service of neighbor, and
• final destiny is sharing in the perfect community of Love, of Father, Risen
Incarnate Son, and Spirit.

1453. How is the Church the “Body of Christ”?

“By communicating his Spirit to his brothers [and sisters], called together from
all peoples, Christ made them mystically into his own body” (LG 7).
The Church is a real, living body whose members are formed in Baptism into the
likeness of Christ, fed in the Eucharist with the very life of Christ their head, and
animated and unified by his Spirit as its soul.
[Hence we see how “Christ’s body” can mean: a) his physical body while he was on
earth; b) his Eucharistic body, by which his glorified body/Person is sacramentally
present to us, and c) Mystical body of the Church formed by all his disciples, united
to him as Head and sharing his very life through his Spirit in the visible society
governed by the successors of the apostles.
1454. What are the essential characteristics of the Church?
Traditionally the Church has been described by four basic characteristics, each of which as both gift and task relates the Church directly to Christ.
These characteristics are: ONE, HOLY, CATH-OLIC, and APOSTOLIC.

1455. What is meant by affirming the Church as “ONE”?

Despite numerous Christian sects and Churches, the Church is essentially ONE as Gift in its:
a) SOURCE, as a people made one with the unity of the Trinity and its founder, Jesus Christ;
b) LIFE, as one body and one Spirit in:
• the confession of one Faith;

• common sacramental worship;

• loving service of one another;

• loving obedience to the Vicar of Christ on earth.

1456. How is the Church’s oneness a “Task”?

As followers of Christ and members of his Body, the Church, we are called to a radical change of heart to overcome the divisions rooted in heresy,
apostasy and schism, and especially our own factions, rivalries, and dissensions that fracture the visible communion of Christ’s people.

1457. What is meant by the Church as “HOLY”?

The Church is holy as a gift from Christ who unites her to himself as his Body, and sends her his Holy Spirit. Empowered by the Spirit, the Church
sanctifies her members by her preaching, loving service, sacramental life, and charismatic gifts.

1458. How is the Church’s holiness also a “Task”?

Since the Church is “at the same time holy and always in need of being purified” (LG 8), her holiness is a process of growing into the full stature of Christ.

“. . . Till we become one in faith and in the knowledge God’s Son, and form that perfect man who is Christ come to full stature . . . Let us profess the
truth in love and grow to the full maturity of Christ the head. Through him the whole body grows. . . and builds itself up in love” (Eph 4:13-16).

PCP II has stressed that “all __ without exception __ are called to holiness. . . though all do not pursue the same path” (PCP II 402; cf. LG 32).

1459. What does it mean to call the Church “Catholic”?

The Church is “Catholic” or universal as a gift from the Lord because she is sent to bring all peoples “to Christ the Head in the unity of his Spirit” (LG
13).

But it is also a Task since “all __ without exception are also called to mission, that is, to evangelize (PCP II 402; cf. LG 33).

1460. What is meant by the Church as “APOSTOLIC”?

As Gift, the Church is apostolic because Christ built [her] upon “the foundation of the apostles” (Eph 2:20), thus linking her permanently with their
witness (cf. Mt 28:19-20). This apostolic charism is carried on through the apostolic succession of the Bishops.

As Task, the apostolic nature of the Church is exercised by all the faithful who carry on the mission entrusted by Christ to his apostles.

1461. What is the mission Christ entrusted to his Church?

The Church received the mission to proclaim and establish among all peoples the Kingdom of Christ and of God (cf. LG 5). She is the “Universal
Sacrament of salvation” for the whole world.

The Church is “missionary by her very nature, since she originates from the mission of the Son and the mission the Spirit, according to the plan of God
the Father” (AG 2). Every member of the Church, therefore, shares in this mission, i.e., “the obligation of spreading the faith” (LG 17).

1462. How is this mission applied to Filipino Catholics?

Since the Church in the Philippines is a “Church of the Poor,” PCP II stresses the thrust for justice and liberation as an integral part of the renewed
evangelizing mission of proclaiming the Gospel.

This mission is carried out in the various ordained ministries and the ministries of the lay faithful who, through Baptism and Confirmation, share in
Christ’s triple role, as Priest, Prophet, and King.

1463. What is meant by the “Communion of Saints”?

The “Communion of Saints” can refer to the communion:

• of Christ’s holy people: those on pilgrimage, those being purified, and those already in glory __ as manifested concretely in Filipino Catholics’
celebration of November 1-2; or

• in holy things: like the Church’s teaching, communal life, sacraments and charity (cf. Acts 2:42).

1464. How is the Virgin Mary Daughter and Mother of the Church?

Mary is:

• Daughter of the Church as redeemed by, and the perfect disciple of, Jesus Christ;

• Mother of the Church because she is Mother of Jesus Christ and associate in his saving work.

As she consented to give birth to Jesus, her Son, so she cooperated with love in bringing about the birth of the Church, whose faithful are united under
Christ their Head (cf. LG 53).

As Mother of Christ, the Head of the Mystical Body, Mary becomes the spiritual mother of all the disciples of Christ (cf. Jn 19:26f).

1465. How is the Virgin Mary “Model” of the Church?

Mary is venerated as Model of the Church because she is:

• the first to be evangelized and redeemed: the perfect disciple of Christ her Son, model of Faith as both virgin and mother, blest among women, the
handmaid of the Lord; and

• the first evangelizer: with Christ, she perfectly fulfilled — and is even now fulfilling — her role in God’s plan of universal salvation.

* “Icon” is a sacred image, painted on wood or formed by a mosaic, that presents persons and scenes symbolically, fostering public and private
prayer and worship. Reverence shown to icons does not refer to the images themselves, but to the sacred persons represented: the living God, Christ
the Savior, the Virgin, the angels and saints.

# Vatican II sketches this same relationship of the Church to Mary: “The Church in her apostolic work rightly looks to her who brought forth Christ,
conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin, so that through the Church, Christ may be born and increase in the hearts of the faithful” (LG 65).